Nursery - Chestnut
Welcome to Nursery!
Scroll down for our weekly updates!
Welcome to all our children and families. Please use the links below to access key information about Nursery.
Our weekly updates will help you to chat with your child about their activities in Nursery. If you follow up any of these activities at home, please do let us know! Remember, you can always upload your own photographs to Tapestry.
You can speak to us any day in Nursery, or contact us via email: joanne.jameson@stf.barwick-in-elmet.leeds.sch.uk
Nursery staff:
Mrs Jameson - Nursery Class Teacher
Mrs Smith - Nursery Class Teaching Assistant
Mrs Hough - Teaching Assistant
Mrs Hart - Lunchtime Supervisor
Weekly updates from Nursery
Week beginning 25.03.19
Castles
This week, we made a castle on the stage and thought about which characters might live in it. Some of the children made castles from boxes and set them up as a 'show' in the outdoor area. They even made posters to advertise the show. Miss Leeman was so impressed with their writing!
Beanstalks
Some of the children have taken home beans they planted at Nursery. We would love to see photos of them growing during the holidays. Remember you can upload your photos to Tapestry to share them with Mrs Jameson and Mrs Smith!
Sixes
We have been counting sets of six objects out of the counting bowls on the tuff tray. See if you can count sixes at home during the school holidays!
Week beginning 18.03.19
World Down Syndrome Day
Everyone joined in celebrating this very special day.
Still six
We have created different arrangements of six blocks and checked every time to make sure there are still six.
Week beginning 11.03.19
Sensory corner
This week, we planted herbs to make a new sensory corner in the outdoor area. We smelled the herbs and talked about the different shapes and colours of the leaves.
Shape Castles
We have some prints of work by Paul Klee, which have inspired us to create our own castles using 2D shapes.
Week beginning 04.03.19
Exploring Sounds
We used wooden spoons, sticks, feathers and paintbrushes to make loud and quiet sounds with pots and pans.
World Book Day
We had a lot of fun with our theme of Mr Men and Little Misses. The children had some fabulous costumes. We used shapes to make pictures of the characters and created a new art gallery to show them off. In the afternoon, some of our Y6 Reading Buddies brought the stories they have written and read them to Nursery.
Number work
All week we have explored what happens when we add one more to a group of five. We have used counters, bricks, marbles, Numicon and even children. We discovered that adding one more to a group of five objects gives us six altogether!
Week beginning 25.02.19
Castles
Mrs Jameson's holiday photos, along with the story of Sleeping Beauty, inspired some fantastic castle-building this week. Children used lego, wooden blocks, cardboard boxes, planks and crates and even tyres to create their own castles complete with towers, kitchens and even a dragon!
Numbers 1-5
We found lots of different ways to consolidate our understanding of numbers 1-5 in the indoor and outdoor areas.
Week beginning 11.02.19
Following our theme of travelling above the clouds, this week we read ‘Whatever Next!’
This led to fabulous rockets being built inside and outside.
Moshi Maths
This week, five Moshi Monsters went to the playground. Some of the Moshis played on the swings and some of them played on the slide. The children are beginning to tell their own ‘part-part-whole’ stories using the Moshi Monsters and the play mats.
Families
We listened to this CBeebies story together and celebrated all families with a treasure hunt for family photographs in the outdoor area.
Week beginning 04.02.19
Flying above the clouds...
Each day this week, we imagined a different way of travelling into the sky to see what might be above the clouds. We acted out journeys by ladder, aeroplane and flying toilet! After each adventure, the children made a map of all the things they had seen. We are great explorers. 
Five a day
At Mrs Jameson's fruit and vegetable stall, the sticky digit reminded children how many healthy fruits and vegetables they should put in their baskets each day.
Week beginning 28.01.19
What can we see in our wonderful world today?
We used coloured filters to look at the outdoor area (and each other) in the snow. We put the filter in front of the iPad to take some coloured photos, too.
What can you make with 5 sticks and 5 stones?
Week beginning 21.01.19
Chef Noodles came to visit Nursery. He was very impressed by the children's knowledge of healthy fruit and vegetables.
All about the number five
Week beginning 14/01/19
The Pan Band
The older children in school were rock stars this week, but in Nursery we had the Pan Band!
Happy New Year!
Week beginning 07/01/19
Everyone has settled well into the new term at Nursery. We have been very busy with Maths-based activities in all areas of our indoor and outdoor learning environments.
Here are some of our Maths Monsters - and some of their creators' descriptions! On Thursday, Nursery children worked alongside Y6 Reading Buddies to read the 'clues' and find each classmate's monster on the new display.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
Merry Christmas to all our Nursery families. Here a few photos of our festive fun:
Week beginning 03.12.18
Mrs Smith taught the children about Nikolaustag in Germany. The children cleaned their shoes and were very excited to find treats waiting for them later!
Week beginning 26.11.18
Mrs Jameson had some help leading the "Flipper-Flapper" activity this week!
We know ALL about the number 3 now! Watch this space to find out which number we are going to learn about next...
Week beginning 19.11.18
We used one of our favourite stories, "Bear Snores On" to prompt discussion about animals who sleep through the Winter. We built a cave in the corner of the classroom, complete with a pillow and sleeping bag for anyone who felt like hibernating!
The children talked about wearing coats, hats and gloves to keep themselves warm in the cold weather. Some of the children made (and ate!) porridge to help them warm up after playing in the outdoor area.
Moshi Maths
We have introduced 'Moshi Maths' as a way of exploring the 'part-part-whole' model used throughout school. The children moved the three characters between the circles and talked about how many characters were in each.
Week beginning 12.11.18
Anti-Bullying Week
We revisited our Nursery motto: In Nursery, we have kind hands and friendly faces!
We also introduced a new group of furry friends and the children made sure they all felt safe and happy in Nursery by including them in all their games.
Children in Need
Everyone practised counting three pounds into a pot for Pudsey. The children had lots of ideas of ways to help other children, including giving them toys that they don't play with any more.
Week beginning 05.11.18
What a busy week!
In November, we remember
We have talked about remembering the people who helped to keep our country safe, including soldiers who fought in wars a long time ago. Some of the children used shaped sponges to make paintings of poppy fields.
Coffee morning
It was very exciting to be involved in the coffee morning celebrating reading. Year 6 friends escorted Nursery over to big school and read them stories in the Key Stage 1 Library. The children chose their own treat from the fantastic selection of cakes and cookies and ate it in the hall with the visitors. There were even a couple of Nursery parents and grandparents among the visitors! I am sure they were as proud as Mrs Jameson and Mrs Smith to see what great ambassadors our children are for Barwick.
Number work
We investigated what happens when we add one more to a tower of two blocks:
“It gets big.”
“It gets a bit taller.”
“It goes to three.”
“You have three blocks.”
We changed our focus number to three and the children found their own ways to show three using their fingers:
Bonfire Night
Many of the children were keen to share their experiences of bonfires and fireworks. They built bonfires inside using sticks and made a huge bonfire in the outdoor area.
Week beginning 22.10.18
Here are some highlights of a very busy week in Nursery!
Firefighter visit
We'd like to say a great big thank you to Mr Daly for helping Nursery and Reception to learn about 'Stop, drop and roll!' and showing us some of the special equipment that keeps him safe when he is fighting fires.
Thank you cards
We also thought about some of the people who help us all the time in Nursery and school. Some of the children made and delivered cards to say thank you.
Week beginning 15.10.18
Some highlights of our week:
A sunny autumnal afternoon is the perfect time to practise climbing and balancing outside.
We are continuing to explore the number two.
We have used chalk for mark-making inside and outside.
Week beginning 8.10.18
Nursery has been full of dedicated doctors and nurses this week! All our baby dolls, friends and visitors have been very well looked after.
We used counters and voted for the books we should read to help us learn about doctors and other people who help us to stay fit and well.
We have extended our work on the number two to finding matching pairs and making simple tally marks to represent two objects.
Week beginning 1.10.18
This week, Nursery children have been engaged in lots of practical activities involving "one and one more" of different objects around the classroom. We have been using digits to label groups of one or two objects.
We have begun working on a project to make yellow poppies, with children decorating individual petals that we will join together.
The poppies are going to be displayed at Armley Mills as part of an exhibition to remember the munitions workers who lost their lives in the Barnbow Filling Factory in 1916. (In Nursery, we are simply talking about remembering everyone who helped to keep people safe.)
If you happen to go and see the exhibition, we'd love to hear about it!
Week beginning 24.9.18
We have been reading Where the Wild Things Are and we have been very wild in the outdoor area! There has been roaring, gnashing of teeth and showing of claws in our wild rumpus. The tuff tray has become the island of the Wild Things and some of the children have made puppets to play there.
In Maths, we have been continuing to think about the number one and we have been exploring more circles. Mrs Jameson wondered whether the children could make pictures using paper circles...
Week beginning 17.9.18
We have had more new children join us this week and everyone is joining in with routines and group activities. Here is a slideshow of some of the playing and exploring that has been happening:
We have been using our story stones to 'write' stories and share them with other people:
Nursery are continuing to get to know the aliens - and introducing them to their family and friends!
Week beginning 10.9.18
It's been another lovely week in Nursery and we have really enjoyed meeting and getting to know some of our new children. There have been so many happy faces at the beginning and end of each day.
We are learning all about the number one and have been finding one of different objects in the indoor and outdoor areas. This is also helping our new children to learn where different resources can be found (and where they should be put away!).
We have been balancing beanbags with Mr Peate:
We dressed up to celebrate Roald Dahl day:
And we had lots and lots of fun!
Week beginning 3.9.18
It's been a lovely week in Nursery, welcoming back the children who are returning to us following the summer break. We have also enjoyed meeting some of our new friends who are joining us this year.
The highlight of the week has definitely been eating our lunch in 'big school' each day! Everyone has enjoyed seeing the staff who prepare our food and waving at friends and siblings across the hall.
